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A FAITHFUL PUBLIC SERVAxNT 



A SERMON 



ON OCCASION OF THE DEATH OF 



PRESIDENT TAYLOR. 



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BY THE REV. HORATIO POTTER, D. D., 



RECTOR OF ST. PETEr's, ALBANY. 



U.S.A. I)] 



ALBANY : 

WEED, PARSONS AND COMPANY. 
1850. 



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REV. DR. POTTER, 

Rev. and Dear Sir : 

The subscribers, who heard your discourse on Sunday last, 
upon the death, life and character of Gen. Taylor, late President of the United States, 
■would he much gratified by seeing it in print, and preserving it for future reference. They 
believe that its publication would be eminently useful to all classes of our citizens, but 
particularly to the young; and they think that it portrayed so truly and faithfully the 
characteristics of the great and good man who was its subject, that it should be placed 
among the archives of our country. We would therefore respectfully solicit the use of the 
manuscript for publication. 

Most respectfully. 

Your friends and parishioners. 



HAMILTON FISH, 
J. C. SPENCER, 
MARCUS T. REYNOLDS, 
WATTS SHERMAN, 
STEPHEN GROESBECK, 
GEORGE DEXTER, 
JOHiN V. L. PRUYN, 
EDWARD HAND, 
J. B. PLUMB, 
R. E. TEMPLE. 
SAML STEVENS, 
GILBERT L. WILSON, 
WARNER DANIELS, 
G. W. PORTER. 



THOMAS HUN, 
D. D. BARNARD, 
JAS. STEVENSON, 
ORLANDO MEADS, 
S. F. PHELPS, 
JOHN GOTT, 
V. TEN EYCK, 
J. TAYLOR, 
W. E. BLEECKER, 
ROBT. WHITLOCK, 
JAMES KIDD, 
GEO. R PERKINS, 
AGUR WELLS, 
AARON HILL. 



Albany, July 16, 1850. 



St. Peter's, Albany, } 
July 22, 1850. S 
Gentlemen : 

If the very brief and imperfect Discourse which you so kindly characterize 
and ask for, can be thought to further in the slightest degree that great National Tribute 
which an admiring and grateful country is now paying to the memory of its lamented 
Chief Magistrate — or if it can be supposed to contain one word, which may have the effect 
of directing youthful minds to the contemplation ol a character, which will be revered the 
more, the more it is examined — which, in very many respects, is preeminently the cha- 
racter to be suited lo all conditions of life, and to make a Nation's well-being, I will not 
allow any Utile private scruple to prevent me from yielding it up with all my heart to your 
wishes. 

What was hastily but conscientiously set down in the first hour of a Nation's grief, I do 
not like now to attempt to expand or embellish ; and therefore I send it to you precisely as 
it was delivered. 

With great respect and regard, 

I remain your friend and pastor, 

HORATIO POTTER. 
To iiAMiLTON Fish, 
J. C. Spencer, 
Thomas Hun, 
D. D. Barnard, and others. 



SERMON. 



" HE BEING DEAD YET SPEAKETH."— Hebrews, 11c. 4v. 

Ox\ the third day of July, in the year 1849, 
there went forth from the mansion of the Chief 
Magistrate of these States, a communication, 
addressed to all the people of the land, setting 
forth, that " at a season, when the Providence of 
God was manifesting itself in the visitation of a 
fearful pestilence, which was spreading itself 
throughout the land, it was fitting that a people, 
whose reliance had ever been upon His protec- 
tion, should humble themselves before His throne, 
and while acknowledging past transgressions, 
ask a continuance of divine mercy, and earnestly 
recommending that an early ensuing day, which 
was specified, should be observed throughout the 
United States, as a day of fasting, humiliation and 
prayer — when all public and private business 
should be, as far as possible, suspended, and 
when persons of all religious denominations 
should assemble in their respective places of 



public worship, to acknowledge the infinite good- 
ness which had watched over our existence as a 
nation, and so long crowned us with manifold 
blessings ; and to implore the Almighty, in His 
own good time, to stay the destroying hand which 
was then lifted up against us." Late on the ninth 
day of July, 1850, there went forth from that 
same mansion, intelligence, which flew with the 
speed of thought to every part of this great coun- 
try, that the venerated man, who had so lately 
called a nation to humiliation and prayer, who 
had so lately lifted up his hand between the liv- 
ing and the dead that the plague might be stayed, 
was now himself rapidly sinking into the arms 
of death ; and to-day, my brethren, we, who, 
less than one short year ago, were assembled in 
this sacred place, in conformity to the pious re- 
commendation of that honored public servant 
and chief ruler, to testify our unfeigned submis- 
sion to the divine will, and to intercede for our- 
selves and for our country, that we might be 
spared, are convened here with the solemn 
symbols of mourning before our eyes, to testify 
our sense of the great loss which we and the 
country have sustained, to humble ourselves, 
again under the chastening hand of the Almighty, 
and to set ourselves to consider what momentous 
lessons they are which we have to learn from 
this most impressive and affecting dispensation. 



The first citizen of the nation — the chosen and 
revered Ruler of the People, is no more ! He who 
had so remarkably won the admiration and sym- 
pathy of the country, not by any dazzling and 
transcendant qualities of the mere intellect — 
but by attributes more dependent upon the purity 
and elevation of the moral nature, by unceasing 
and inflexible devotion to duty, by singular mo- 
desty and disinterestedness, by heroic firmness 
and constancy, by a calm and unerring judgment, 
by a native gentleness and kindness of heart, 
which made him a stranger to all bitterness of 
spirit, full of simple and touching courtesies, as 
conspicuous for his moderation and humanity in 
the hour of triumph, as he was for his judgment 
and resolution in the hour of conflict — he who 
was a model of simplicity and integrity and dis- 
cretion and devotion to duty in the superior sta- 
tion, as he had long before been in all inferior 
stations, and whom the nation admired and loved, 
even more for the purity and truthfulness of his 
nature, than for his great achievements — • he has 
been suddenly taken away from us; and of his 
temporal existence, which but yesterday filled 
so large a space in the world, and was the centre 
around which so many interests and so many 
affections revolved, nothing now remains to us 
but the fruits of his great and arduous services, 
and the memory of his toils and of his virtues. 



And they, you will agree with me in thinking, 
are of no mean worth. In departing he has left 
something of himself with us. He could not die 
altogether, as to his presence and influence, any 
more than he could die altogether as to his exis- 
tence and consciousness. His great and henig- 
nant example survives ; and by it, " he, being 
dead, yet speaketh" to us, and emphatically to 
the whole country. A virtuous man is a great 
gift to the world ; an instrument of inestimable 
blessings ; and happily it is not in the power of 
death, in removing such an individual from 
among the living, to remove from the earth all 
the good which, as a living fountain, he has 
opened and caused to flow over it. The living 
may depart, and the light of a benignant and 
gracious presence may seem to be altogether put 
out; but when the grave, bedewed with tears, 
has closed over the mortal remains of the faith- 
ful and good man, and the places which once 
knew him, mourn as for something utterly and 
entirely lost, this world is not the same world 
that it would have been had that individual 
never lived. Independently of all that he has 
actually achieved in the world for good, by his 
own immediate exertions, he leaves a name, an 
example, an influence, already at work in multi- 
tudes of hearts, which he had impressed and 
quickened when living, and which will go on 



unseen, moving and quickening other hearts, 
now that he is departed. And the more certainly 
will that name, that example, that influence, tell 
widely when they are of a nature to stand out 
conspicuously before the eyes of men, and to in- 
scribe themselves upon the history of the world. 
Sometimes faithful and able men, who are capa- 
ble of far higher things, are called away in the 
earlier stages of their career, before anything has 
occurred to distinguish them from the multitude, 
or to lift them up above the obscurity of ordinary 
life. Even in such cases, we may be sure that 
there is in all human excellence a secret efficacy 
which will have made it impossible for any indi- 
vidual, however humble, if possessed of such ex- 
cellence, to have lived, even for a few brief years, 
in obscurity in vain : truthfulness of nature, de- 
votion to duty, all those nameless graces of cha- 
racter which come from simplicity and zeal, are 
of a nature to diffuse themselves silently and in- 
sensibly, like odours through the surrounding air; 
they are borne forth by the winds, like unseen 
particles from plants, which go to touch and im- 
pregnate far distant things. There may be no 
high-sounding eulogy pronounced over the grave 
of such an one ; his name may be mentioned but 
by few ; but many a spirit will be the better for 
his having lived ; and perhaps some of those who 
survive to attain to high eminence and distin- 



10 



guished excellence, will have derived unconsci- 
ously from him a portion of that fire wjiich 
kindled in their bosoms into a blaze of glory. 
But when a life of singular self-denial and devo- 
tion to duty is prolonged, and at length crowned 
with a visible and distinguished success, Divine 
Providence seems to set its seal upon it and to 
hold it up conspicuously before all the world, 
that it may teach by example, and kindle in the 
hearts of those who have eyes to see such things, 
a sympathetic emotion of virlue. 

Such is the history of the illustrious life which 
has just been so suddenly and so mournfully 
terminated — mournfully, I mean, for us Avho 
survive ; for the admiring and grateful feelings 
which placed him where he was, seemed to crave 
for him a longer enjoyment of his high honors, 
and the country seemed to need his mingled 
firmness and moderation ; but for himself, there 
was nothing mournful in his sudden call to de- 
part : He had done enough ! He had tried in 
every relation, to do his duty. If he had known 
something of the bitterness and injustice which 
are apt to assail all public men, he had also en- 
joyed as large a share of the love and esteem of 
his contemporaries, as often falls to the lot of any 
single individual, however eminent. He had 
most unexpectedly received the highest honors 
of his country, without having run after them. 



11 



On the great and agitating questions of the day, 
he had delivered his opinion with the candor and 
good sense which ever characterized him. And 
his work might well be considered to be so far 
done, that any services which he might hereafter 
be able to render to his country, would be more 
than outweighed by the trouble and painfulness 
which would attend his high station and his ad- 
vanced age. Great cares, and responsibilities, 
and hardships, and dangers had been things fami- 
liar to him, and little regarded when they came 
in the strict line of duty — and when, under Di- 
vine Providence, success depended only upon his 
own great spirit, and upon the zeal of those 
whose hearts he kncAV how to sway. But politi- 
cal intrigue and animosity — injustice from those 
whom he had been accustomed to honor and 
esteem — continual misconstruction of feelings 
and sentiments as pure and elevated as ever 
stirred in the bosom of a christian patriot : these 
things depressed and discouraged him ; and the 
magnanimous and heroic spirit, which had stood 
unmoved amid the crash of arms in the darkest 
hour, was bowed down, and willingly let go its 
hold of life, when it found itself beset by passion, 
by selfishness, by unkindness. Upon such a 
death, a great and generous people, whatever 
their political differences, will not look witiiout 
some tears of sympathy and affectionate admi- 



12 



ration and regret. The few signs of mourning, 
which our Holy Place exhibits to-day — and which 
will probably be found in almost every house of 
God in the land, are no empty ceremony ^ — no 
ostentatious affectation of a grief not really felt: 
they are true and expressive tokens of a sorrow 
that pervades the entire country, and only feeble 
and inadequate as all outward tokens are in such 
cases, to convey an idea of the profound feeling 
which is moving all hearts. Scarcely perhaps 
since the days of Washington, has a public man 
descended to the grave, carrying with him a 
more loved and venerated name — or surrounded 
by a more universal feeling of confidence in his 
perfect integrity and truthfulness of character — 
in his great disinterestedness and singleness of 
purpose — in the calmness, and candor, and pe- 
netration of his judgment, or more esteemed for 
whatever is kind and generous, humane and 
noble in human character. 

While we pay to him, as we desire to do, in 
these days of mourning, our tribute of affe ctionate 
regard and gratitude — and while we turn our 
thoughts to his bereaved family, imploring ear- 
nestly for them the consolations of Divine Good- 
ness; let us also think of our common county, 
and of ourselves, and ask ourselves what lessons 
we have to learn from this great and heavy be- 
reavement. 



13 



As I intimated just now, the honors with which 
the life of the departed was crowned, and the 
impressive circumstances under which it has been 
terminated, have withdrawn a long term of ser- 
vice from the comparative obscurity in which 
otherwise it mij^ht have remained, and have had 
the effect of holding it up conspicuously before 
the eyes of the world, as if to instruct it, and 
move it by the power of a bright and significant 
example. I have already hinted at the remarka- 
ble qualities which characterized the honored 
dead. They are qualities of inestimable v/orth 
— qualities most needful to promote and secure 
the well-being of Society — especially of a great 
nation like ours — and which cannot be too ear- 
nestly commended to the notice of the young, 
and to the imitation of all public men. 

I can only glance at them in the briefest way. 
Consider in the first place the singular integrity 
of his character and his inflexible and self-deny- 
ing devotion to duty — and that under circum- 
stances which forbade the thoui^ht of anything 
more than a very humble and undistinguished 
recompence. What makes the view of his life 
so beautiful and so refreshing is, that he seems 
to have toiled all the day, through all its burden 
and heat into the very evening of life, encounter- 
ing hardships and perils almost unexampled with 
firmness, with never-ceasing diligence and zeal. 



14 



without ever suspecting that he was doing any- 
thing remarkable, displaying any extraordinary 
qualities — or that his long life of unobtrusive 
service could leid to any thins: more than a mo- 
derate degree of distinction in his own profession 

— and to that which is indeed the best of all re- 
wards, the consciousness of having endeavored 
to do his duty. Extensive as is a general ac- 
quaintance with the life now under consideration, 
I think it would require much of a kind of detail 
which would be unsuited to this place, to bring 
fully into view the whole extent of the field, 
the variety and difficulty of the circumstances 
through which this ever-steH fast devotion to duty 
was displayed. We may think that the brilliant 
exterior success of such a life was owing to a 
kind of accident, to a fortunate conjuncture of 
circumstances ; and no doubt great opportunities 
did much to bring great qualities into general 
notice; but whoever looks carefully through 
the lile, will see that those eminent qualities 
were displayed at every step — that they com- 
manded success where others would have failed 

— and that they, insensibly extending their in- 
fluence, gained powerfully upon the feelings of 
the nation, where a few brilliant victories, un- 
supported by such qualities of head and heart, 
would have done comparatively little to win the 
suflrages of a great people. We admire the splen- 



15 



dor of the ultimate success; but in such cases we 
are apt to overlook the means by which it was 
attained : we see something great and admirable 
in the character, and we do not sufficiently con- 
sider that the charm is one, which comes not from 
a few fortunate triumphs, not wholly from some 
engaging but cheap endowments of nature, but 
from the impression which a long life of toil and 
trial, of conscientious and generous devotion to 
duty, has made upon the very substance of the 
soul — and which imparts to the slightest move- 
ments of feeling, to every sentiment and impulse, 
an irresistible grace and power. Transparent 
sincerity — inflexible integrity — unflinching and 
painstaking devotion to duty; these are the 
great and beneficent qualities which gave such 
lustre and such weight of influence to the cha- 
racter of our lamented Chief Magistrate : these 
are qualities without which no character, how- 
ever imposing, is Avorthy of any the least honor, 
and they are qualities which, of all others, are 
most indispensible to him who would serve his 
country, and make himself a blessing to his day 
and generation. Let us lay these things to heart, 
and let us testify our affectionate veneration for 
the memory of the departed — our love for our 
country — by imitating the virtues which made 
his life so true and useful, and his death so illus- 
trious. 



16 



1 might speak again of his unaffected kindness 
and humanity. All who served near his person, 
were touched and unconsciously won over to a 
most devoted attachment, by the thousand unstu- 
died and delicate tokens of kindness and conside- 
ration which shed light along their often check- 
ered and dreary path. I never heard that he 
cherished any great admiration for the war in 
which his duty compelled him to engage ; but 
all the world has heard, that while his career 
was marked by an inflexible determination to do 
his duty, it was equally signalized by the cle- 
mency and considerate kindness with which he 
treated the vanquished enemy, and ministered 
to the relief of his necessities. The same patient, 
and gentle, and kindly bearing has characterized, 
all his conduct in the elevated station from which 
he has just been called away. How much better 
and happier would all men be — how much more 
peaceful the life we are leading, were this the 
universal temper of mankind. Let us, for our 
part, do what we can to make it so. 

But I must hasten to a conclusion. I can 
only point to his singular modesty, to his mani- 
fest disinterestedness, to his steady respect for 
authority, when that authority was exposing him 
to imminent peril and mortification — to his re- 
markable freedom from all high party prejudices 
and animosities — to the spirit of equity and 



17 



moderation, which pervaded all his doings; and 
finally, to the serenity, and resignation, and hope 
which shed a Halo around his hurried bed of 
death. Not without prayer — not without faith 
in God — not Avithout the light and joy of a good 
conscience, did he take his leave of us — and go, 
as we humbly trust, to enter into that Rest, which 
remaineth for the good man — for the tried and 
faithful servant. Soon each one of us will be 
summoned to follow. May we all be able to say 
as he did, in humble reliance upon the mercy of 
God in Christ Jesus: "I am prepared: I have 
endeavored to do my duty : I commit myself into 
His hands, who is merciful to them that fear 
Him, and who, where He sees deep sincerity and 
humility, will not be extreme to mark what in 
error of judgment is done amiss " 



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